Transforming Learning: Don't Let School Interfere with Your Laughing - Softcover

Dr. Peter Jonas' book elevates the use of humor to its legitimate status as a research-based, powerful instructional strategy that positively impacts student learning, engagement, and sense of self. -- Robert J. Marzano, Chief Academic Officer, Marzano Research Professor Jonas' "meta-synthesis" of the research on humor related to teaching and leadership makes a significant contribution to the humor literature. If you have any doubts about the value of humor in your professional and personal lives, hurry and read this book. As a dedicated educator, it's what you do. If you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you switch to GEICO (R). It's what you do. -- Ronald A. Berk, Ph.D., professor, Biostatistics & Measurement, former assistant dean for Teaching, The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) As I skimmed the pages of Peter Jonas's book, I found myself reading the darn thing - like for hours. I've had two recurring thoughts since I finished reading this book; 1) I wish this book had been written sooner and 2) I bet there are a lot of people who've worked for me over the years who wish I would have read it sooner. -- Tony Frontier, PhD, author, "Five Levers to Improve Learning: Prioritizing for Powerful Results in Your School" Some say Education is no laughing matter. Peter Jonas disagrees and thank goodness that he does. The degree of importance placed on high stakes standards and testing has made our schools a major source of stress for students, teachers and parents alike. What Peter brilliantly demonstrates is that lightening the load with a dose of humor can not only make our lofty goals more attainable but, in fact, is necessary to do so! -- Nancy Sandford-Blair, Professor Emerita, author, and consultant

Many authors have researched the connection between humor and education but as E .B. White said: "Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it. However, Dr. Peter Jonas takes a broad and practical approach examining the connection between humor and learning. The book uses a meta-analysis and meta-synthesis to identify nine areas where humor significantly improves various aspects of the learning environment. This book provides practical examples, as well as research on how much of an effect (effect size) humor has on Leadership, Learning, Stress reduction, Job Satisfaction, Relationships, Creativity, Culture, Communication, and Engagement. Humor needs to be taken seriously, because when you get people laughing you can transform learning.